In this new contemporary from YA star Kasie West, a girl who wins the lottery learns that money can cause more problems than it solves, especially when love comes into the picture.

Maddie doesn't believe in luck. She's all about hard work and planning ahead. But one night, on a whim, she buys a lottery ticket. And then, to her astonishment --

She wins!

In a flash, Maddie's life is unrecognizable. No more stressing about college scholarships. Suddenly, she's talking about renting a yacht. And being in the spotlight at school is fun... until rumors start flying, and random people ask her for loans. Now, Maddie isn't sure who she can trust.

Except for Seth Nguyen, her funny, charming coworker at the local zoo. Seth doesn't seem aware of Maddie's big news. And, for some reason, she doesn't want to tell him. But what will happen if he learns her secret?
With tons of humor and heart, Kasie West delivers a million-dollar tale of winning, losing, and falling in love.

I don’t even know what to say about this book except that it’s adorable and SO Kasie West (which is a very good thing, mind you).

Believe it or not, the themes in this book have been a topic of conversation in our household many times. My husband insists that he would absolutely hate to win the lottery because it would completely change us. And if it somehow didn’t change us, it would, at the very least, change how everyone around us perceives us and acts toward us. He’s probably right (that was certainly the case with Maddie in this book). Actually, I knew someone personally who did win the lottery—when I was in high school, my biology teacher (and her sister) won 17.5 million dollars! And I can say from experience that things actually did change for her a lot—and people did treat her differently. In fact, I had people coming to me asking if they could mention my name and ask her for a donation. Um, awkward? She insisted at first that she was going to keep teaching until the end of the school year, but she didn’t quite make it—we ended up finishing out the year with a substitute. Can’t blame her!

Anyway, onto my actual review of this book…

I thought that Lucky in Love gave a pretty realistic portrayal of the types of things that happen when you suddenly come into a whole lot of money. People suddenly change their attitudes toward you. Some people try to take advantage (sometimes even family members!). You start to wonder who you can trust and just wish that everyone didn’t know. And you often find that money doesn’t solve all the problems you think it would. At least, those were the lessons that Maddie learned in this book.

I loved Maddie because she’s a very practical, down-to-earth person, but even she manages to get swept away a bit by the excitement and drama of being a millionaire. Still, she remains likable, even when she’s making mistakes. The book depicts strong friendships and deep (if complicated) family relationships. And the romance with Seth is all sorts of adorable—I appreciated the cultural aspects that were brought up since Seth is of Vietnamese heritage. I will say that the romance seems to be less of a focus in this book than it is in some of West’s other books, but that was just fine with me. I still got plenty of swoonworthy moments to keep me happy. Oh, and the zoo setting is incredibly fun!

Basically, this is what I’ve come to expect from West—a fun contemporary that explores family, friendships and more. I give this book an easy 4/5 Stars!

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via Fantastic Flying Book Club and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

Today, West is sharing her top ten addictions with us. But as a fun twist on the typical author list that you see around here often, she’s also letting us know how she would indulge in that addiction if she were to win the lottery. (For most of the entries—some of them are harder to spend money on than others. For instance, staying up late. Maybe she could hire a servant to poke her now and again to keep her up? No? Hmmm… you might be right.)

Reading! (If I won the lottery, I would be able to buy a book a day. Maybe I could hire a housekeeper and cook so I could have more time to read?)

Hallmark movies

Heartland (If I won the lottery, I would be on the next flight to visit the set. They are filming season 11 right now, in fact.)

HGTV (If I won the lottery, this would be an unfortunate addiction to keep because I would probably start remodeling my whole house.)

Dr. Pepper (two words: lifetime supply)

Junior Mints (the same two words: lifetime supply)

Chocolate chip cookies

Naps (If I won the lottery, I’d buy a house with a built-in “nap room”. It would be the perfect darkness level and there would be fans and white noise and a big bed with lots of pillows. Now I want this. I guess I need to win the lottery.)

Vacations (I love vacations. Right now, my lottery winning vacation would include a trip around Europe.)

About the Author

I write YA. I eat Junior Mints. Sometimes I go crazy and do both at the same time. My novels are: PIVOT POINT and its sequel SPLIT SECOND. And my contemporary novels: THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, ON THE FENCE, THE FILL-IN BOYFRIEND, PS I LIKE YOU, and BY YOUR SIDE. My agent is the talented and funny Michelle Wolfson.

Author Links:

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Thanks for sharing. I think winning the lottery would be great just to pay off things, like student loans. I hear that you should get a lawyer when you win before you even turn in the ticket or whatever, because they can keep your name from being announced; then nobody has to even know if you don’t want!

danielle hammelef

I’ve been seeing this book for such a long time now and still want to read it. It sounds cute and fun with an issue I’d love to have to deal with myself with 3 kids either in college or with lofty university goals. I’ve had it on my TBR since I first read the synopsis. I read the previous comment and I’d definitely hire a lawyer before turning in my winning ticket.

That’s incredible about your bio teacher. Whoa! And YES to Hallmark movies. They are my guilty pleasure. I am seriously loving Christmas in July. The one last week was perfect. I think I shed some tears I was so happy for it. It’s the same kind of comfort I get when I read a Kasie West book. Both Hallmark and West give me an adorbs story with an HEA. I feel good at the end, and sometimes, I really need that. Fun post and great review!

I love the “twist” on your usual topic!! If I won the library, my addictions would totally get out of control– mainly buying ALL THE BOOKS AND BOOKISH THINGS, and Boston Terriers, clothes/makeup/shoes. And it’s good to know I can blame my ancestors for having a messed up circadian rhythm. My people definitely took the night watch in the hunter/gatherer camp 🙁

Amazing review. Winning the lottery is a long dream of mine. Not only would I be able to help my family, but I could turn my mansion into a library. Think of all the books you could buy. And I`d be in my library all the time, so I wouldn`t notice if people treated me differently:)).

This book looks so cute! Last year, there was a HUGE amount of money in our state’s lotto. Everyone was buying tickets. We don’t normally play the lottery, but I went ahead and bought a couple tickets. We didn’t win, of course, but we talked A LOT about if we did for awhile there. What we’d do about work, where we’d live, etc. So I think this book would be really interesting. I added it to my TBR. 😀

Wow, amazing that you actually know someone who won the lottery. Good for your teacher! I hope she managed it well and didn’t blow it all in under a year. 🙂

I have learned that Kasie West is hit or miss for me. Some I like, some are just… okay. The fact that the squeaky clean/super sweet style of YA isn’t really my preference probably has a lot to do with it, but it’s also because sometimes I feel her books are so light and fluffy that there’s not much depth. And that was my overall feeling with Lucky in Love. It was cute and skimmed the surface of family and friend relationships but there wasn’t much more than that for me. Enjoyed reading your thoughts about this one, Nicole!

I can’t believe your teacher won the lottery, that is insane. I mean, I would like to think I would carry on working but I probably wouldn’t. I would really like to take the chance to travel if I won the lottery. I do think people’s attitude to you would change and not necessarily for the better.

I have been wary of West’s books of late, her last couple of releases seem to have had mixed reviews but this does sound like it was done quite well. I may have to check it out.

That’s so crazy that people would come up to you to have you ask your teacher for a donation! How beyond awkward is that, ack!! But this book sounds beyond adorable! I just love the way her characters and story make me feel.
So I’m beyond ecstatic to see how much you enjoyed this book!

I’ve not read a Kasie West book yet and while I was intrigued by this book I was unsure about how I’d like the lottery angle since it could have been a very far-fetched execution. I’m glad that it was realistically explored. It’s an interesting concept, especially when you think about how it changes people’s attitude of you. I might just give this book a shot.

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I'm a book-loving homeschooling mom of three crazy kiddos who loves to blog about her favorite reads! My blog is called Feed Your Fiction Addiction for a reason - some days I think I might need an intervention!